


Prior

by NanaCee (AyyCeee)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Baby, Death, Husbands, M/M, Prince Consort!Taeyong, Prince!Jaehyun, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23529223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyyCeee/pseuds/NanaCee
Summary: Jaehyun, when Taeyong first died, wondered what he did wrong.now a year after, he reminisces everything that happened between them prior his husband's death.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 2
Kudos: 60





	Prior

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read this, I highly suggest you read the au connected to this to understand the story behind this au. However, as I write this, I could see that it could at least stand on its own. But I believe it's really better to read [ Guns and Roses ](https://twitter.com/nanaminuwu/status/1240609311203590144?s=20) in order to fully understand the story. 
> 
> Nonetheless, feel free to read this as a stand-alone.

Jaehyun stands by the doorway, looking around the room which was filled with memories; albeit the majority of them are arguments with the person who used to occupy the room, were still memories. 

"Do you think you could forgive me?" Jaehyun asks the wind, "I feel like you're angry...I'm sorry." Jaehyun whispers as he walks inside and closes the door. 

Jaehyun could remember the first time he gave Taeyong the room, the first time that Taeyong had seen the room after claiming that he wants the room. 

"I wish you were here, I didn't even know what happened...it was all too fast," Jaehyun said, talking to no one but the wind as he walks straight towards the chair behind the large wooden desk. 

Jaehyun huffed out a puff of air before he sat down on the chair. Everything did happen all too fast. And he knows that somehow it was his fault that his husband died. 

"It's been a year since then, Taeyeon is already one. And you're not here." Jaehyun said, spinning slowly on the chair taking in the whole room. 

* * *

_"Jaehyun, I want to go to Tokyo," Taeyong said as he settled down on the couch inside the sitting room of their quarters._

_"Why do you want to go to Tokyo?" Jaehyun asked, confused by the wish of his husband._

_"I don't want Taeyeon to be in the eyes of the media. I want her to at least have a normal upbringing before we formally introduce her to everyone."_

_"That's such a hassle, Yong. We need to explain, still, to everyone why you want to stay in Tokyo for such a long time." Jaehyun groaned out._

_"The reason why I want to stay in Tokyo is not just because of Taeyeon, Jaehyun," Taeyong said, voice firm._

_Jaehyun felt his stomach drop, of course, it's not just because of Taeyeon - it's because of him._

_"So you want to live in Tokyo in the guise of taking care of Taeyeon, but in reality, you want to get away from me? Is that it?" Jaehyun growled._

_Taeyong keeping silent answered the question, "Thanks for being honest, Taeyong. Didn't know you could do it." Jaehyun said._

_Taeyong stood up in anger, "Right, 'cause you're not hiding anything from, Your Royal Highness." Taeyong snapped._

* * *

He gave out a dejected sigh, as he remembered their conversation. And now that he thinks about it; it's all his fault.

Jaehyun grumbled, thinking that If it weren't for his drunken actions then they wouldn't have reached that point. If only he did not get drunk on that night, then maybe he would still have his husband, and everything would be alright. 

But that night, he was so angry at Taeyong and his own father. That he allowed his actions to be driven by his emotions and the current state of his mind.

Three things that brought him to even think about killing his husband. 

Frustration; the frustration with his husband and all their arguments as of recent. 

Desperation; the desperation to please his father who had been hounding him for over a year about getting married to the son of a politician or businessman so that he could have an heir. 

Intoxication; the feeling of intoxication gives him a breath of fresh air from everything that he has been feeling. 

But right now, a year after the death of his husband, a year after everything, something dawned on him; something that made him angry at his father

\- his father was the one who gave him NANA's number. 

And he allowed himself to be manipulated by his own father. 

* * *

_"Jaehyun, Taeyong is only the Prince Consort. You need to find someone fit to be the Queen, someone who will give you an heir."_

_-_

_"Here, if you need someone to finish off a person who stands against your against...this is someone who you should contact."_

_"What if he asks?"_

_"You could even ask him to kill Taeyong if you feel like it. He does not ask questions, so he won't even know who you are or why you want Taeyong killed."_

_-_

_"Fuck off, Jaehyun. Why were you with Johnny and Doyoung again!"_

_"Please, I'm trying to enjoy my life."_

_"You're a Prince!"_

_"I"m twenty-seven years old."_

_"And I'm your husband."_

* * *

Jaehyun hums quietly as he browses through the document in front of him. For over a year, he took the space and allowed no one except for the maid to come in. He wanted to retain Taeyong's memories; he wants it fresh and untouched. Because the room contains their memories together. 

From the moment he was given the crown, he took up the room and made it into his own office, giving his cousin his own office inside their residence. 

He was so engrossed in the document he was reading he did not hear the door opening. 

"Hyung, I have to go."

Jaehyun looked up towards the doorway to see the owner of the voice holding Taeyeon in his arms with a pout. 

"You have got to stop pouting, Donghyuck," Jaehyun said, a chuckle leaving him as he walked towards his brother-in-law and his daughter. 

"I have to go. Mark is waiting for me, we still have to visit the lovebirds." Donghyuck said, handing the baby in his arms to the older male. 

"I'm sure they're waiting for you," Jaehyun said, smiling softly at him. 

Jaehyun and Donghyuck could hear the telltale shout of another male. 

"That's Renjun, we really have to go. Take care, Hyung." the younger male said, hugging the older male before he turned and ran towards the origin of the voice. 

"I guess, it's just you and me, Taetae..." Jaehyun cooed at the baby in his arms. 

Taeyeon just giggled as Jaehyun bounced her in his arms as he walked back towards the chair and sitting down with Taeyeon situated on his lap. 

"You're already one, Taetae..." Jaehyun said, caressing the baby's head. 

Jaehyun watched as the baby in his arms giggled and babbled, reminiscing the day he first saw Taeyeon. 

* * *

_Jaehyun watched as Taeyong fidgeted with his fingers. A few minutes ago, his husband was biting his fingernails, so he grabbed Taeyong's hands in his and caressed them, knowing that his actions will allow Taeyong to realize that he could play with Jaehyun's fingers while they wait for their guests._

_"Taeyong, you'll do good," Jaehyun said, smiling supportively at his husband once he looked at him._

_"But-"_

_"But nothing, Taeyong, you are Taeyeon's father and you'll do good, you'll be the best father she'll have." Jaehyun cut him off._

_Taeyong kept mum but he nodded which made Jaehyuun smile a bit. Jaehyun moved to kneel in front of Taeyong, reaching up so that he could run a soothing hand through the other male's hair._

_"Do you hear me, Yong? You'll be the best father Taeyeon will ever have. You shouldn't doubt your abilities to care for another."_

_Both of them were in their own world that they did not hear the sound of the door opening and the footsteps approaching them._

_"Hello?" Sicheng called out to them, bringing the two out of their reverie._

_Taeyong, upon seeing the baby in his arms, jumped up and squealed._

_"Is that Taeyeon?" Jaehyun carefully asked as he watched Sicheng hand the baby over to Taeyong who continued to coo at the baby with bright pink cheeks and drool dripping out of his mouth._

_Sicheng glanced at him, "Yeah, this is Taeyeon." Sicheng said._

_Jaehyun only gaped at the baby in his husband's arms, enthralled by how the baby really looks similar to him, especially the peeking dimples on her chubby pinkish cheeks._

* * *

"Look at you with these chubby cheeks!" Jaehyun continued to coo as he pinches the baby's cheeks. 

Taeyeon retaliated by slapping her father's hands, trying to get his fingers off her cheeks, looking like she's about to cry. 

"You know, Taetae...after everything," Jaehyun said, combing through the baby hair of his daughter, "I'm just glad I was able to say sorry to your father." 

The baby in his arms laughed loudly as she was bounced by him. His bright smile, however, started to dim as he remembered the tragedy a year prior. 

* * *

_Taeyong sighed for the nth time they've been inside the limousine. Obviously unpleased by the arrangement of transportation that was prepared for them._

_"Where's Taeyeon?" Jaehyun asked, not looking up from his phone._

_"She's with Yuta and Sicheng. I asked them to look after her while we meet the emperor." Taeyong answered, looking out the window._

_Taeyong glanced at Jaehyun and saw that he had shifted so that he was facing him, so Taeyong shifted as well to look at his husband._

_"Why are you looking at me?" He asked._

_"I'm sorry, Taeyong," Jaehyun said softly._

_"What are you sorry for? I'm sure you can list those down." Taeyong said, raising an eyebrow at him._

_Jaehyun tried not to crack a smile, reaching out to grab the other's hands, enclosing them in his own._

_"I'm sorry that I took our marriage for granted. I'm sorry that I failed to treat you properly. I'm sorry that I suddenly had a child with someone. I'm sorry for everything; all of our arguments, all the time I went out and drank until I collapsed, all those times I made you worry to death...I'm so sorry, Taeyong." Jaehyun said, eyes soft like he's about to lose everything._

_Taeyong let out a breath, while Jaehyun held his. The Prince Consort shifted more so that he was fully facing his husband, taking his hands out of the grasps of the Prince, Taeyong cupped Jaehyun's cheeks._

_"Do you know how long I've yearned for you to say all those?" Taeyong said, voice as soft as the spring wind, "Months. I've waited for months to hear those words, Jaehyun..."_

_Jaehyun's mouth dropped as he watched Taeyong's face morph in a soft face, his eyes widening yet being filled with unshed tears._

_"Tae-" Jaehyun tried to speak, but Taeyong interrupted him,_

_"Jaehyun, you should know, that even though I waited for you, I'm also about to just give up," Taeyong said, sincerity dripping in his voice that had Jaehyun's heart dropping._

_"I'll be honest here, I don't know for how long I could have waited, for how long I could have stayed...I'm not sure if I can endure knowing everything. You don't love me anymore, Jaehyun, even if you think you do, you don't." Taeyong continued on, caressing Jaehyun's cheeks with his thumbs._

_"Taeyong, I don't know what to say..."_

_"Just listen to me, first, Jae, please..."_

_Jaehyun nodded, seeing the desperation in the other's face._

_"I know you're regretting everything, but I honestly don't think I can stand beside you or even behind you...Your father is not yet placated, Taeyeon is a girl, what he's waiting for is for you to marry the emperor's daughter and have a son with her. I'm only your consort, I could not provide you with a son. Do you understand me?" Taeyong said._

_"Stop, Tae. Please, stop saying that...." Jaehyun pleaded, tears slowly forming and falling down his eyes, "I swore to you in front of the whole country, I would not take another person as my wife nor as my consort. I am yours and yours alone." Jaehyun said, voice soft and dripping with desperation._

_"But where have you been? Jaehyun, you swore yet here we are, a few years later, planning on how to marry you off to the emperor's daughter and lying about your biological daughter." Taeyong said._

* * *

Jaehyun can't help it, he can't help the tears falling down his face; as he remembered the day of the accident.

He wished and he hoped for all of it to be a dream, however, it is not. It's his reality. 

His husband was killed. 

He can't help but accept the fact that where they are now, is his own fault. He can't blame Taeyong, because his husband tried his very best to revive whatever they had before everything. Everything, every argument they had then was coming back to him. 

And Jaehyun, he just knows that it's all him. Everything that happened, from the moment their bond started to stretch thin, was all him. Never Taeyong - for Taeyong was the one who tried to salvage everything early on. 

* * *

_"Please, don't give up on us, Taeyong, don't do this." Jaehyun pleaded, tears continuously falling down his face just as Taeyong was also crying._

_"Jaehyun, please," Taeyong pleaded, "Stop this. Stop making me yearn. Stop making me wait. I don't want to get hurt more than I can handle."_

_Jaehyun could do nothing but stare as his husband cries out and pleaded, "By the end of your trip here, you will be going back with a Princess by your side. You will be going back to prepare for the royal wedding...Jaehyun, stop this already. Let me and Taeyeon go and live our lives here in Tokyo."_

_"I refuse to do so!" Jaehyun cried out._

_"If you love me, Jaehyun, please...I forgive you for everything that you did...please just grant me this wish." Taeyong whispered, his voice so soft like a whisper as tears continued to fall down his cheeks._

_And just as Jaehyun was to reply to his request, something slammed which caused Taeyong to fly out of his seat and unto the floor of the limousine. Jaehyun cried out and rushed towards the laid body of the other male, cradling his head as tears fell down his face._

_"Fuck, Taeyong! Are you okay?" Jaehyun called out._

_Jaehyun felt as if life was taken away from him as he watched his husband struggle. Taeyong's body had smashed to the sides of the limousine, and he does not know what he incurred._

_Jaehyun could hear the gunshots outside limousine, he closed his eyes wishing that their guards would be okay. It took about a few minutes before the door was harshly pulled open by Mark who was holding the door, disheveled._

_"Hyung! Are you okay?" Mark asked, rushing inside the limousine, towards the two of them who were on the floor of the car._

_"We're fine, what's happening?" Jaehyun asked._

_"I don't know. Cars suddenly slammed at all of the cars of the convoy. It's a bloody scene outside, I think over eight guards got hit." Mark explained, checking the two for injuries._

_"We have to get you out of here." Mark said, helping Jaehyun with Taeyong, "The guards have already cleared the area. We're hoping there's no more back-up or anything."_

_"I hope so too," Jaehyun said._

_Mark opened the door again and helped Jaehyun with Taeyong who was having a hard time moving his body due to the impact._

_"Are you sure you're fine, Hyung?" Mark asked._

_"I'm fine. It's Taeyong I'm worried about." Jaehyun grunted._

_Mark's lips formed a thin line._

_Jaehyun could feel his heart thump against his chest bone, could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. But all that could not have prepared him from what had happened next._

_As the guards were helping them inside another vehicle, a car stopped in front of them and started shooting at them. Jaehyun had pushed Mark inside the car and slammed the door close, holding it close with his body, and shielding Taeyong, as well._

_Although he was more unharmed than Taeyong, Jaehyun felt weak as Taeyong turned them around just as the guards started to drop around them._

_Just as a bullet hit Taeyong's back, making him fall towards Jaehyun, and Jaehyun bumping his head on the glass and falling unconscious. As if, both of them were shot dead._

* * *

Jaehyun was brought out of his reverie by the feeling of something wet on his forearm, 

"You're drooling on papa!" Jaehyun exclaimed, shifting to grab a tissue to wipe the drool on his forearm and on Taeyeon's face. 

"Sorry, I got distracted..." Jaehyun said as Taeyeon was staring at him with wide eyes and a pout.

The older male just laughed, "Let's go to the dining hall, I'm sure your uncles are waiting for you." 

He smiled as Taeyeon smiled back at him, albeit toothless and stood up, shifting Taeyeon in his arms as he carried him out of the room. 

"I'm sure you're happy that your uncles are waiting for you," Jaehyun said, pinching her cheeks again. 

He could hear the noise from the dining hall, chuckling as he could hear his friends and Taeyong's friends shout at each other. 

"I could hear you guys from down the hall." He said as he entered the dining hall where all his friends were seated in their usual seat. 

"Jae!" Johnny shouted, standing up from where he was seated. 

"Stay seated, you child. You'll the chance to coddle Taeyeon later. She needs to eat first." Jaehyun said, walking to his seat at the head of the table, placing Taeyeon on his lap. 

Immediately as he sat down, servants entered the room and served their food. 

"I still can't believe that you're the King," Doyoung said. 

"I've only been King for a few months." Jaehyun countered. 

"I would have to say, your ascension to the throne is such a climactic event....' The fall of the king and the rise of another'..." Yuta pointed out. 

"My father did fall," Jaehyun mused. 

"Unceremoniously," Sicheng commented, taking a bite of his food. 

Johnny coughed out awkwardly, cueing to the others to shift the topic. 

"Speaking of, Jae, how's Mark and Haechan?" Yuta asked, eyes bright and glittering at the prospect of knowing what the King's advisor is up to. 

"Haechan was just here. I asked him to take care of Taeyeon while I was in a meeting the whole morning. But he had left with Renjun and Mark to visit Jaemin and Jeno." 

"I missed them," Doyoung said, his voice somber. 

"We all miss them...it's just that, we're too late to tell them what we feel about them," Sicheng said. 

"I'm sure, wherever they are, they're both fine," Johnny said. 

And with that the continued to eat their dinner, Jaehyun feeding Taeyeon who was giggling at the hard time she was giving her papa. 

Doyoung chuckled at Jaehyun before he reached for the baby on his lap, "Let me feed him, you go eat your dinner. I'm sure you missed lunch as well." 

Jaehyun smiled gratefully at his best friend, a moaned as he was able to take a bite of his food, causing his friends to all laugh at his antics. 

"What a King," Johnny said, chuckling. 

They continued to play around and talk amongst themselves as they ate their dinner. Moving to the sitting room for alcohol while Taeyeon was handed to a maid so that she could sleep and allow the adults to talk amongst themselves. 

"How long has it been?" Sicheng asked, voice low as he sipped his drink. 

"A year," was Jaehyun's answer. It did not take him another beat to answer, for he knows what Sicheng had asked - how long has it been since Taeyong had been killed in the ambush in Tokyo. 

"How are you, Jae?" Johnny asked, careful of his words. 

Jaehyun just sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I'm fine. Taeyeon and I are fine. Haechan is holding on there with Mark beside him. Mark, he still feels the guilt, but he's staying strong. Jaemin and Jeno, I honestly don't know about them. Renjun also feels like it's his fault. It's a mess, but we're holding on." 

Yuta nodded, "We're here for you, you know. We were there in the hospital, and we're here a year after. We won't leave you hanging. Not again. Never again." Yuta said. 

* * *

_Slowly, he opened his eyes, squinting as the bright light of the room partially blinded him._

_"He's awake!" he heard someone shout._

_He groaned out loud as someone rushed beside him._

_"Jaehyun! Oh god!"_

_"W-water..." he croaked out._

_Immediately, he was helped to sit up on the bed as the backrest was adjusted, and a cup of water was handed to him. After he had allowed his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the room, he saw all of his friends were seated on chairs all over the room, even Taeyong's friends were with him._

_"Where's Taeyong?" he asked._

_He watched as all of the people around the room looked at each other, positively avoiding his eyes._

_"Where.is.Taeyong.?" he repeated, teeth gritted together._

_It took a few minutes before it was Mark who answered him, pulling Haechan, who was sitting beside him closer, "We have no word on his condition."_

_"You're lying," Jaehyun snapped at his assistant._

_"I -"_

_"Stop lying to me, and tell me the truth." Jaehyun cried out._

_This time, as they looked at each other, it was Johnny who moved towards him. It was Johnny who sat on the edge of the bed. It was Johnny, whom he grew up with, whom he confides in, it was Johnny who told him the truth._

_"Jaehyun...Ta-Taeyong, Taeyong got shot in his spine. No one was able to revive him." Johnny softly said._

_And just like that, Jaehyun felt as if his soul had been taken away from him. As if he had just died._

_Because, as he lost his husband, he felt like all life has been lost - he does not have anyone to live for._

_"Hyung," Jaehyun heard Mark's soft call, but he opted not to look at the younger male and just stare at the white sheets of the hospital bed._

_He could hear the shuffling of feet and Johnny moving off the bed with Mark replacing him. Mark reached out to hold his hand,_

_"Hyung, please look at me." Mark softly called out, urging him to look up at the younger male who looks like he's dead as he was pale with his lips chapped and eyes sunken._

_"You've been unconscious for a few hours, six hours at most. The shock and the hit on the head had caused this. So you didn't hear Taeyong-hyung's last words...you didn't, but I did. I was there, holding the both of you as the guards protected us." Mark said, staring straight at his eyes._

_"What did he say?" Jaehyun softly asked, running his thumb on the back of Mark's hand as comfort._

_"He asked me to tell you to take care of Taeyeon - don't give up on her just because he was dead. He asked for you to take care of her and to love her as if he's still with you. He asked for you to also take care of yourself because you know what?" Mark said._

_"What?"_

_"You have to find the person behind this." Mark said his teeth gritted together, "We have to get justice for Taeyong-hyung's death, as well as all the guards we lost."_

_And that's where Jaehyun found his resolve to fight and stay alive._

_He needs to take care of Taeyeon._

_He needs to find the mastermind._

_He needs this to give Taeyong the peace he wished for before he died._

* * *

And that is why, a year after his husband's death, Jaehyun had ascended as the king of the country. 

For he was able to achieve what he vowed to do in front of Taeyong's grave. 

He was able to that with all the sacrifices that had happened; with all of his friends' support. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this au! 
> 
> You can catch me via [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/nanaminuwu) or at [ curiouscat ](https://curiouscat.me/auwu_)


End file.
